Modem communication systems require components, such as a local oscillator (LO) amplifier, which operate in the radio frequency (RF) spectrum and drive other components, e.g., mixers, modulators, and demodulators. However, such components typically suffer from high parasitic capacitance and thus are not able to produce voltage waveforms with large swings and sharp risetimes over a wide range of frequencies. Moreover, such components tend to have larger geometries which result in slower operation speed, and typically utilize large DC currents resulting in higher power consumption.
Current approaches to overcome this problem include using reactive matching techniques, such as using a resonant LC tank circuit at the output of a LO amplifier to obtain a large voltage swing. Such techniques, however, still do not enable the LO amplifier to operate over a wide range of frequencies with reasonable DC power consumption. There is, accordingly, a need for an amplifier that simultaneously operates over a wide range of frequencies, produces voltage waveforms with sharp risetimes, and utilizes minimal DC current.